New DVD Updates
First, I must apologize for being late, the smoke in the air has made it hard to do much around here. Yes - I’m in California, and although I’m thankfully not near the fires, they are not that far, and the air quality is so extremely bad that I’m not able to accomplish much. Not sniveling, just telling it like it is. Those who have it much worse are also on my mind.
It doesn’t feel so much like any holiday here in California right now, but they continue to approach. More and more box sets are starting to appear - obviously with a Christmas target. I’ll be reporting on those soon, separately.
Now, those movies from the theater to disc (many of these are foreign, which I’ll indicate, there isn’t a great number of films in English this time.
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10 Questions for the Dalai Lama (2006)
Starring: Dalai Lama
Director: Rick Ray
Documentary filmmaker Rick Ray embarks on a journey to the monastery of the Dalai Lama where he is allowed a 45 minute audience with the holiest man in the Buddhist faith.
Not Rated
American Pit Bull (2007)
Director: Marilyn Braverman
Documentary - American Pit Bull explores the evolution of the breed from an upper-class working dog and beloved companion to a fighter and guard dog for inner city residents.
Not Rated
foreign film
Black Mirrors: Forough Farrokhzad (2007)
Directors: Forough Farrokhzad, Nasser Saffarian
Documentary - Forough Farrokhzad, Iran’s most celebrated contemporary poet, became a legend in her own time for her innovative and controversial poetry. In this exclusive two-pack, Farrokhzad’s only film, The House is Black, is offered alongside Nasser Saffarian’s The Mirror of the Soul, an extensive, three-part documentary on her life and work.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Farsi)
foreign film
Breathless (1959)(Criterion Collection)
Starring: Jean Seberg, Jean-Paul Belmondo
Director: Jean-Luc Godard
Vastly influential revisionist noir/romance involves young French thief on the lam hiding out with his American girlfriend. This “ultra-cool” classic is a must-see for students of French New Wave, noir fans.
Rated PG - Subtitles (language French)
foreign film
El Bruto (1952)
Starring: Pedro Armendariz Sr., Katy Jurado
Director: Luis Bunuel
Gripping melodrama about slaughterhouse worker recruited as sleazy landlord’s strong-arm man. Taut direction, poised between realism and surrealism, pleases fans of Bunuel’s Mexican period and lovers of politically-conscious art-house drama.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Spanish)
foreign film
Carnival in the Night (1982)
Starring: Kumiko Ota, Akemi Edo
Director: Masashi Yamamoto
Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, Carnival in the Night follows a young woman who leaves her son and ex-husband to explore Japan’s underground punk rock scene of the early 1980s.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Japanese)
Chip Factor (2007)
Starring: Professor Griff, Tasia Grant
Director: Michael K. Harris
Five strangers participate in a 72-hour research study where they are implanted with ability enhancing microchips. The subjects are unaware of the chips deadly side effects as they are challenged to survive for three days trapped in a test facility.
Not Rated
The Company (2007)
Starring: Chris O’Donnell, Alfred Molina
Director: Mikael Salomon
A miniseries that traces the CIA’s involvement in world affairs over a 40-year period, from the beginning of the Cold War through the demise of the Soviet Union.
Not Rated
Dark Storm (2006)
Starring: Stephen Baldwin, Rob LaBelle
Director: Jason Bourque
A group of scientists try to prevent their new invention, a device more powerful than the nuclear bomb, from falling into the wrong hands.
Rated PG -13
Days of Heaven (1978)(Criterion Collection)
Starring: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams
Director: Terrence Malick
Slow-paced, atmospheric, engrossing account of murder, love, and betrayal on turn-of-the-century American frontier. With its luminous cinematography and haunting soundtrack, this is a poetic experience best-appreciated by the art-house crowd.
Rated PG
foreign film
The Devil (1972)
Starring: Malgorzata Braunek, Wojciech Pszoniak
Director: Andrzej Zulawski
Synopsis: Jakub, a young 18th century nobleman, rots in prison for conspiring against the king. A mysterious stranger frees him, but in exchange he demands a list of Jakub’s fellow conspirators. Jakub follows the stranger on a journey across a nightmarish, snowbound countryside where they witness countless acts of brutal violence. Affected by the overall chaos and moral corruption, the young nobleman descends into madness.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Polish)
foreign film
Dog Bite Dog (2006)
Starring: Edison Chen, Sam Lee
Director: Pou-Soi Cheang
A Cambodian assassin finds himself chased by a sadistic cop from the Hong Kong police force after completing his assignment.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Cantonese)
foreign film
Eternal Summer (2006)
Starring: Jui-chia Chang, Joseph Chang
Director: Leste Chen
Two best friends grow up together and discover their dormant feelings for one another only after a female schoolmate expresses interest in each of them.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Mandarin)
Fido (2007)
Starring: Carrie-Anne Moss, Billy Connolly
Director: Andrew Currie
Fido chronicles the adventures of a young boy and his pet zombie who live in an alternate version of the 1950s where a cloud of mysterious space dust has reanimated the dead.
Rated R
foreign film
Forecast for Tomorrow (2003)
Starring: Jerzy Stuhr, Malgorzata Zajaczkowska
Director: Jerzy Stuhr
A man, after having abandoned his family to live in a monastery, returns to the real world after 17 years and realizes that his family is on the verge of collapse.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Polish)
Gag (2006)
Starring: Brian Kolodziej, Trent Haaga
Director: Scott W. McKinlay
Synopsis: Two thieves try to do a good deed when they find a man beaten beyond recognition. Unfortunately their willingness to help the man ensnares them in a trap set by a serial killer, who proceeds to torture them.
Not Rated
foreign film
History of a Secret (2003)
Director: Mariana Otero
French filmmaker Mariana Otero tries to learn the truth why her mother abandoned her when she was a young child.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language French)
Home of the Brave (2006)
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Biel
Director: Irwin Winkler
Three soldiers have a difficult time adjusting to civilian life after serving in Iraq. The film is modeled after 1946’s The Best Years of Our Lives.
Rated R
Hostel: Part II (2007)
Starring: Lauren German, Heather Matarazzo
Director: Eli Roth
Three young American women who are studying art in Europe take a vacation in Slovakia. Unfortunately for them, their trip turns into a nightmare.
Rated R
Interkosmos (2006)
Starring: Jim Finn, Nandini Khaund
Director: Jim Finn
Faux-documentary about a fictional 1970s East German space project with musical interludes in between.
Not Rated
foreign film
Karas: The Revelation (2006)
Starring: Keiji Fujiwara, Hitomi Nabatame
Director: Kei’ichi Sato
Acclaimed anime takes place in a fictional version of Tokyo, where humans and ghosts coexist. As the city’s guardian, it is Karas’s responsibility to keep all these different forces in balance, a task that proves manageable until the power-hungry Eko intervenes at all of Tokyo’s expense.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Japanese)
Kaw (2007)
Starring: Sean Patrick Flanery, Kristin Booth
Director: Sheldon Wilson
Panic breaks out in a small town after blood-thirsty ravens attack the residents.
Rated R
Meet the Robinsons (2007)
Starring: Tom Selleck, Laurie Metcalf
Director: Stephen J. Anderson
An inventor gets into a time machine with a mysterious stranger, and before they know it they’re in the future having a showdown with a guy in a bowler hat.
Rated G
Mr. Brooks (2007)
Starring: Kevin Costner, William Hurt
Director: Bruce A. Evans
A psychological thriller about a man sometimes controlled by his murdering alter ego
Rated R
Nearing Grace (2006)
Starring: Jordana Brewster, Gregory Smith
Director: Rick Rosenthal
A teenage boy deals with his mother’s death by failing his classes and falling for the high school bad girl.
Rated R
foreign film
Rose’s Songs (2003)
Starring: Maia Morgenstern, Ildiko Bansagi
Director: Andor Szilagyi
A Jewish family hides out from Nazi occupancy with an opera singer whose beautiful voice is said to protect all from capture.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language Hungarian)
Sheriff (2004)
Director: Daniel Kraus
Slice-of-life documentary chronicles the everyday world of a small town lawman in rural Brunswick County, NC.
Not Rated
Think Tank (2006)
Starring: James Avery, Eric Artell
Director: Brian Petersen
Four 20-something slackers try to save their local hangout from the clutches of a sleazy entrepreneur.
Rated PG
foreign film
Trace of Stones (1966)
Starring: Manfred Krug, Krystyna Stypulkowska
Director: Frank Beyer
The popular foreman of a construction site vies with a Party secretary for the affections of a pretty young engineer.
Not Rated - Subtitles (language German)
Trap (2006)
Starring: Amanda Lamberti, Heather Kozlakowski
Director: James Bonner
A manipulative woman convinces her online pal to murder an abusive spouse, while driving her own husband to the brink of insanity
Not Rated
The Tripper (2007)
Starring: Balthazar Getty, Jamie King
Director: David Arquette
A group of free-love hippies attend an outdoor music and camping festival only to find themselves stalked by a maniac.
Rated R
Under the Volcano (1984)(Criterion Collection)
Starring: Albert Finney, Jacqueline Bisset
Director: John Huston
Slow-paced, richly detailed, critically acclaimed portrait of alcoholic British diplomat in 1930s Mexico. This Albert Finney vehicle pleases fans of complex character studies who enjoy evocative, atmospheric period pieces.
Rated R
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Lots of low budget horror, and lots of foreign films of dubious quality. Probably best to stay with the movies in the Criterion Collection - it’s hard to go wrong there - and if you don’t like it, it will be easy to resell.
Now for television
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American Gangster: The Complete First Season (2006)
Starring: Ving Rhames
BET docu-series explores the historical, socio-economic, and political context surrounding the rise and fall of several notorious African-American criminal minds.
Not Rated
The L Word: The Complete Fourth Season (2007)
Starring: Jennifer Beals, Leisha Hailey
Directors: Bronwen Hughes, Marleen Gorris
This TV series follows the lives and loves of a group of lesbian friends in Los Angeles.
Not Rated
Mind of Mencia: Season 3 Uncensored (2007)
Starring: Carlos Mencia, Brad Williams
Director: Liz Plonka
Sketch-comedy show hosted by stand-up comedian Carlos Mencia.
Not Rated
The Sopranos: Season Six, Part 2 (2007)
Starring: James Gandolfini, Edie Falco
Directors: David Chase, Alan Taylor
The head of a New Jersey crime family deals not only with the hazards that come with his job, but also with the trials and tribulations that come with having a family.
Not Rated
Veronica Mars: The Complete Third Season (2006)
Starring: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring
Directors: John T. Kretchmer, Harry Winer
After her best friend is murdered and her father is removed as the town sheriff, Veronica Mars, a fearless 17-year-old teen, dedicates her life to cracking the toughest mysteries in the wealthy seaside community of Neptune, CA.
Not Rated
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Wow - every one of these television collections deserves a place in your video library.
Check into some of the foreign films - perhaps a rental before the purchase.
More next week - if California is still around!
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